the blue room-since he knew the secret of its effect.
The chamber was empty. He saw only images of himself. And, as on his previous visits, it was impossible to differentiate between real space, through which he could advance, and mirrorspace, which blocked his progress. The only way through, he knew, was to move slowly, hands outstretched to feel for the glass.
He wound as quickly as he could through the Fragmentation Serpent; it seemed to him unlikely that Clury was waiting there. The sinuous corridor, with its parabolic mirror-as-mouth, was lined with silvered cubistic surfaces that broke up his body into conflicting planes.
Then, as he left through the serpent's narrow tail, he caught his first glimpse of Clury and Gelsey in the Great Hall of Infinite Deceptions. It was impossible to know exactly where they stood since the mirrors projected false images everywhere. The closer he moved toward them, the more reflections of them he saw: lustrous clones, repeated and repeated, surrounding him on all sides, mixed with an equal number of replicas of himself.
'Lots of mirrors, right, Janek?'
Everywhere he turned he saw Clury, bull-necked, smiling as he spoke.
Gelsey, standing beside him, looked serene. Only her eyes betrayed her fright. She was wearing a shirt and shorts, her hands were bound in front of her with rope and there was some sort of pack, presumably containing the bomb, mounted like a child's school satchel on her back.
The worst part of it was the way Clury controlled her. He held a leash attached to a chain-link choke collar around her neck.
'Yeah, lots of mirrors. Bother you, Clury?' He tried to sound tough, indifferent, as if he felt at home in the maze p and was used to dealing with punks who held his girl hostage.
'Just so you know, if little darling' here breaks loose, I can set her off by remote.'
Clury opened his hand to reveal a slim black object that looked like a television control module. The mirrors reflected it a thousand times.
'Why're we meeting here?'
' ' here I can see if anyone else comes in, no matter which direction.
That's how I know I'm having a one-on-one. See, Janek, I'm not interested in surrender.'
'What are you interested in?'
'A deal.'
'A deal made under duress is no good. You know that.
'I got something to say.'
'So say it.'
'First, put your gun on the floor. Carefully.' He held out his remote unit to show that his thumb was poised on the button.
I know what he wants. He doesn't want to talk or deal. He's going to kill us off, then set things up to look like ' and I killed each other.
He's good at that. It's what he did with Metaxas. He spent the last three days figuring out just how to do it.
Janek shrugged, unbuttoned his jacket, removed the Glock from its holster, stooped, set it carefully on the floor.
'While you're bent over pretty like that, put down your ankle weapon, too.'
Janek removed the Beretta from his right ankle holster, laid it beside the Glock, then stood up.
'Now back off.'
Janek edged backward until his shoulder grazed the wall of mirrors. He watched as Clury, leading Gelsey by the leash, approached his guns, stooped and picked them up. The mirrors reflected the action: a thousand Clurys and Gelseys moving together, each image showing them from a slightly different angle, a thousand Clurys and Gelseys moving down endless mirrored corridors, approaching from every direction at once. it was then that the concept hit him: Amid all these moving images of humans dancing across myriad 'mirrors of deception,' there was no way to tell which were reflections and which were actual people. Intuiting that this insight was the key to victory, Janek began to move. Suddenly the Great Hall became alive with images. it was as if a great crowd of people had filled it up. The only strange thing about this crowd was that its members had only three faces-a thousand Janeks, a thousand Clurys, a thousand Gelseys mingling and milling around.
'What're you doing?' Clury yelled, his words echoing off the glass.
'You've got my guns. What's the problem?' Janek bellowed, circling, then doubling back.
'Why are you moving?' Clury's pockmarked cheeks skipped across the silvered surfaces.
'I don't want to get shot.' Now Janek could not distinguish between the genuine Clury agd the counterfeits.
'You will be shot if you don't stand still.' A thousand Clurys aimed Janek's Glock.
'What're you going to shoot at, Clury?' Janek said, walking faster.
'Me or one of my clones running around in here?'
Clury leveled the Glock in the opposite direction. Or at least Janek hoped so-there was the possibility that Clury had him in his sights.
'Go ahead, shoot me if you can,' Janek taunted. He liked his tone. It built up his confidence. He wanted to distract Clury, make him forget about using Gelsey as a shield. By focusing on Clury and ignoring her, he hoped to cause Clury to ignore her too.
'Stand still or I'll blow up your girl.'
Janek laughed. 'She's not my girl. And you won't blow her up.' As he moved clockwise around the room, his mirror- twins moved in all directions. He felt as if he were revolving at the center of a rapid counterwhirling merry- go-round.
'Don't push me!' Clury looked confused as his eyes scanned the images skimming across the gleaming walls.
'Too much glass in here. Blow her up and you'll kill us all.' Janek paused. 'Maybe that's what you want.' Janek, dancing, knew that if he stopped, Clury would shoot him down. 'No, I don't think so,' he added.
'You're not the suicide type. You're a killer, Clury. But a bomb's a coward's weapon.'
'Bullshit!' Clury twirled like an enraged bull.
I've got him now!
'Yeah, a coward's game. Wait till no one's looking, then set it up.
Back off, crouch down, watch it blow. Can't do that in here. You'll be sliced to ribbons.'
Clury fired the Glock. Janek winced. The explosion, rebounding off the glass, echoed harshly in his ear. On the other side of the Great Hall a mirror panel shattered, then fell in pieces to the floor.
Janek crouched, pulled out his left ankle Beretta, fired back across the Great Hall as he rose. Then he was off again. Across the room a clone of Clury splintered and crashed.
Clury let go of Gelsey's leash. The moment he did, she ran to one of the walls. Now the three of them were separated, their images crisscrossing on every mirror.
'Don't stand still!' Janek yelled to her. 'Move!
Move!'
A thousand Gelseys nodded at once. A thousand dreamsisters began cavorting through mirror world.
Clury fired at Janek again.
I can't Waste ammo returning shot for shot. He's got two of MY pistols, maybe another of his own.
Janek was also aware that this game of hide-and-seek could not go on too long. Concealment among the mirror figures was possible only as long as everyone moved. Once one of them slowed or stopped, he or she would become a t. The end game would be determined by fatigue.
'Get out of here!' Janek yelled to Gelsey. 'Take off that damn pack and run!'
Clury laughed. 'She can't take it off. And if she runs out of here I'll blow her up.'
Gelsey's eyes, a thousand pairs, gleamed with fright. It was the same frightened look Janek had seen when she was booked-the panic that seized her when she was not in control.
No choice now. I've got to kill him.
Janek fired across the room. As Clury ducked, a panel bearing his image broke into shards. Janek saw Gelsey run to one of the walls, then, head down, push her tied hands against a mirror. When the panel sprang open, she crawled into the blackness. The panel shut after her.
